Inspire, Empathise and Define

Module 2: Inspire, Empathise, and Define – Overview

This module marks the beginning of a live project set in the IIM Bangalore staff canteen (≈400 daily diners). The goal is to practise the first three stages of the design-thinking process:

1. Inspire – uncover why a problem is worth solving.
2. Empathise – understand users (both service providers and consumers) from their vantage point.
3. Define – narrow down the broad problem space to a specific, actionable problem to take forward.

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The three stages at a glance

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The live-project context

• Setting: IIM Bangalore staff canteen (≈400 diners/day).
• Approach: Dr. Soni and a crew actively work through the live case; you are invited to think along even though the project is conducted on campus.
• Your role: As the module unfolds, identify problems, empathise with both service providers (canteen staff) and consumers (diners), propose solutions, and eventually test them in the real setting.

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How the stages connect

The output of Define becomes the input for the next module (ideation – not covered here).

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Key takeaways

• The Inspire stage shifts focus from “what to design” to why design at all.
• Empathise means stepping into the user’s shoes – not with preconceived answers, but with genuine curiosity.
• Define is a filtering step: among all the needs and pain points uncovered, select the one that is most worth solving.
• This module’s live project (staff canteen) provides a concrete, testable setting to apply the three stages.
• You are expected to engage virtually – think along as the case progresses.

Mind of a Design Thinker

A design thinker operates at three levels: tool sets, skill sets, and mindset. Tools are the raw materials and instruments (brushes, knives, software). Skills are the ability to use those tools effectively (a trained chef vs. a novice with the same knife). The mindset is the “glue” that holds them together — the internal stance that determines how tools and skills are applied. Without the right mindset, even the best tools and skills produce mediocre results.

The mindset is the hardest to develop, yet it makes the decisive difference between a competent practitioner and a great one.

Why mindset matters: the Picasso example

Pablo Picasso produced over 15,000 artworks in his lifetime (roughly one per day as an adult). What set him apart was not just skill — it was his mindset of constant reinvention. Whenever his style became saturated, he reinvented himself. He invented collage by asking: “Why must art use canvas and paint? Why not everyday objects, even garbage?” That act of questioning assumptions, ignoring audience expectations, and redefining the medium is the essence of a design‑thinker’s mindset.

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The three facets of a design‑thinker’s mindset

The mindset of a design thinker can be captured by a Venn diagram of three overlapping attributes: clear head, deep heart, and thick skin.

Clear head

“Temporary clarity is better than permanent blindness.”

Having a clear head means knowing your priorities at any stage of life. Priorities change, but confusion about them is toxic. Example from practice: clients who ask “Teach me design thinking” have no clear purpose; those who say “Here is a problem — solve it using design thinking” have a clear objective and learn far more effectively. In an age of social‑media noise and constant comparison, clarity of purpose is a prerequisite.

Deep heart

Deep heart is compassion – the ability to understand others’ pain, aspirations, and desires without them having to explain fully. This is empathy, not sympathy.

Empathy ≠ being emotional. Empathy = being considerate and proactive. If someone asks you for food and you give it, that’s sympathy, not empathy. Empathy senses the need before it is spoken.

In collectivist, high‑population contexts (like India), compassion often gives way to self‑serving competitiveness. A design thinker must deliberately cultivate empathy.

Thick skin

Thick skin is the courage to act without being paralysed by others’ opinions. Many people have great intent but are timid – overly concerned with approval from strangers. As long as you are not deliberately hurting anyone, being yourself is more important than pleasing others.

The opposite of being yourself is not hurting others; the opposite of being yourself is not being yourself.

In a collectivist culture that prizes agreement and external approval, thick skin is especially hard to maintain, yet it is essential for moving away from the status quo.

Reconciling deep heart and thick skin

These appear contradictory: deep heart means caring about others’ feelings; thick skin means not caring about others’ judgements of you. The resolution: you can be empathic about others’ needs while being unconcerned about their approval of your actions. One is outward focus, the other is inward resilience.

Exam tip: The reconciliation of “deep heart” and “thick skin” is a frequently tested concept. Understand the distinction: deep heart = care about others; thick skin = don’t care about their opinion of you.

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Key takeaways

• Design thinking requires tool sets + skill sets + mindset; mindset is the hardest and most critical.
• A design thinker’s mindset has three overlapping parts: clear head, deep heart, thick skin.
• Clear head: know your priorities (purpose-driven learning).
• Deep heart: empathy, not sympathy; proactively sense unspoken needs.
• Thick skin: resilience to criticism; do not seek approval from others.
• Deep heart and thick skin are reconcilable: one cares about others’ needs, the other disregards others’ judgement of oneself.

Honing a Clear Mind

Honing a clear mind means deliberately focusing your mental energy on what you can actually affect, while letting go of everything else. The core idea: your attention and time are finite – every concern outside your control steals resources from the things you could change. This is a prerequisite for the Inspire phase of Design Thinking: clarifying why you need to solve a problem.

The Two Zones

Every person has two mental territories:

Key insight: The zone of influence is always a tiny subset of the zone of concern. The goal is to shrink the zone of concern and expand the zone of influence until they overlap – that is the zen state (a state of flow).

Why your thoughts are unlimited – but your senses aren’t

The five senses have finite ranges: smell ~5 ft, sight ~1–2 km, hearing ~50 m, taste and touch only within reach. Only thoughts are unbounded – you can imagine a solar eruption or the Big Bang in less than a second. This is why the zone of concern can balloon uncontrollably: thinking is effortless and limitless. You must consciously bound it.

Shrinking the Zone of Concern: Saying No

Use the word no – a high-quality no (said without regret). Be selective about:

• People, activities, books, entertainment, food, places, sources of news
• Projects you take on (only say yes when you can do it better than anyone else)

Example: The lecturer declines teaching marketing or HR – that is a clear, regret-free no.

Expanding the Zone of Influence: Saying Yes

Within the boundaries you’ve set, say yes to actions you can influence. Expand influence by taking responsibility for what you can change. The one person you can truly change is yourself; everything else – parents, friends, spouse, children – you can only create conditions for change.

The Zen State (Flow)

When zone of concern === zone of influence (complete overlap), you achieve a state of flow. You are concerned only about the ball coming at you – like Roger Federer at Wimbledon: no thoughts of score, legacy, past, or future.

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The ITC Model – What to Do When Distractions Arise

Use this three-tier framework to decide how to react:

I – Ignore (~50% of events)

• Let it pass completely; no emotional absorption.
• Example: A car brushes yours on the road – not worth the fight (minor miracle you survived traffic).
• Don’t ignore people – ignore their behavior. Behavior is largely shaped by environment (e.g., people clean in Delhi Metro but litter outside; same person, different context).

T – Tolerate (~40% of events)

• Absorb the situation because there is an upside for self-development.
• Example: A PhD supervisor asking to delete a six-month chapter – painful but necessary for improvement.
• Always keep the feedback channel open – never kill the messenger for the message. Even inaccurate feedback trains the channel to deliver valuable information later.

C – Confront (only when necessary)

• Confront only when the upside is very high and you are willing to pay the cost in time, energy, or reputation.
• Example: Witnessing cheating in an exam or facing abuse – these require courage and commitment to see the battle through.
• Do not confront trivial matters with low upside (auto driver). In the age of social media, “mind your business” is often the smartest strategy.

Exam tip: The ITC model is a decision hierarchy – you try I first, then T, then C. The percentages (~50%, 40%, remainder) emphasise that most daily irritants should be ignored or tolerated, not confronted.

Connecting to Design Thinking’s “Inspire” Phase

The Inspire phase asks: Why do I need to solve this problem? – not Can I solve it? A clear mind (small zone of concern, large zone of influence) allows you to focus energy on problems that truly matter and that you can affect. Saying no to irrelevant concerns and yes to meaningful influence is the foundation.

Key takeaways

• The zone of concern is large; the zone of influence is small. Shrink the first, expand the second.
• Zen state = the two zones overlap – complete focus on what you can act on.
• Use no to reduce concern, yes to expand influence; a high-quality no is said without regret.
• ITC model: Ignore 50% (let pass), Tolerate 40% (absorb for growth), Confront only when upside justifies the cost.
• Never ignore people – ignore their behavior; behavior is environment-driven.
• A clear mind is essential for the Inspire phase – it clarifies why you are solving a problem.

Inspire – The "Why" of a Problem

The Inspire stage reframes the first step of design thinking. Before empathising with users or generating solutions, you must step back and ask: Why solve this problem at all? The trap is assuming every incoming problem is important. Two questions exist for any problem:

• Why solve it? (more vital)
• How to solve it? (easier, delegable)

Most people – conditioned not to question authority – jump straight to how. This leads to solving the wrong problem or missing a deeper opportunity.

The "Why" Question – a Worked Example

Another example: stamping boarding passes at airports. The stated problem is "how to stamp efficiently". Asking why reveals the real need: authentication. Physical stamping is messy, ink-heavy, and risky (lost pass → restart). Solution: virtual authentication. Today many airports have eliminated physical stamps, and even visas and passports are moving to biometric/virtual formats.

Exam tip: The "why" chain (5 Whys) is a standard tool to reach root causes. In exams, illustrate with a concrete chain – e.g., hole → painting → beauty – to show how the problem shifts.

Why This Matters More in the Age of AI

AI excels at answering how (e.g., "you're hungry → here are five restaurants"). It is a good slave but a bad master – it does not ask why. To lead a fruitful life, humans must focus on the why question; otherwise technology uses us.

Industry Examples – Redefining the Problem

• Asian Paints (exterior paint longevity): The stated problem: "How to make paint last 15 years?" (chemical processing, layers, weather protection). Asking why reveals that a 15-year lifespan hurts business – customers would repaint less often. The real problem: "How to make paint look fresh for 5 years?" (controlled deterioration). This redefined the R&D direction.
• Royal Enfield (women riders): The stated problem: "How to make women riders more comfortable?" (lower seat, lighter weight, less vibration). Asking why reveals that women who choose a Royal Enfield want the bike as it is – they are making a statement. The solution: leave the bike unchanged and let riders graduate to it.

The Three Types of Problem Solvers

This framework categorises professionals by how deeply they engage with a problem. It explains why why matters in the Inspire stage.

Key insight: Asking why moves you from pharmacist (how) toward surgeon (why). The more you elevate the problem, the more indispensable and valued you become.

A Hierarchy of Problem-Solving Mindset

The core message of the Inspire stage: Before climbing the ladder, make sure it is leaning against the right wall (Stephen Covey). Solving a problem well is useless if the problem itself is not worth solving.

Key takeaways

• Inspire is the first design thinking stage – ask why before you empathise or ideate.
• The "why" question redefines the problem (e.g., hole → beautiful house; stamping → authentication).
• Three types of problem solvers: Pharmacist (transactional), Doctor (relationship), Surgeon (high knowledge asymmetry). Aim to be a surgeon.
• AI is good at how, not why – humans must retain the why-question to stay indispensable.
• Industry examples (Asian Paints, Royal Enfield, boarding passes) show that redefining the problem can lead to radically different (and better) solutions.

The High Threshold for Design Thinking

The bigger tragedy in design thinking is not failing — it is pursuing a problem that was not worth it. Design thinking should only be applied to audacious goals (e.g., putting a man on the moon), not to everyday, routine problems (e.g., crossing the street). The latter should be tackled with lean thinking, not design thinking. The audacity and grandness of the goal is the qualifying condition.

Exam tip: Never default to design thinking for every problem. Ask: is this problem truly complex and worth the effort? If not, use simpler methods (e.g., lean, agile, or just ignore it).

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Bruises vs. Cancer: Two Problem Categories

All problems can be classified into two types based on how they behave with time:

Key insight: 80% of problems in life are bruises; only 20% are cancerous. Yet most people waste energy “fixing” bruises — often making them worse.

Exam tip: A bruise problem becomes worse when you try to solve it (e.g., picking a pimple). Learning to ignore is a critical skill.

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How to Diagnose: Create Distance

To distinguish a bruise from cancer, create space between you and the problem:

• Physical distance — step back, change your environment.
• Temporal distance — give it time; “time is a great healer.”
• Emotional distance — detach yourself; your personal investment inflates the problem’s importance.

Value is not intrinsic. A Coldplay concert ticket worth ₹3 lakh to one person is irrelevant to millions. A child values a pencil like a treasure; the market values it near zero. Similarly, problems only appear big because of the value you associate with them. Objectivity comes from distance.

Exam tip: The COVID‑19 pandemic initially seemed like cancer — but with time, it healed into a bruise. Many problems, when viewed from a distance, shrink.

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Thinking Above Your Pay Grade

Work at your pay grade, but think two levels above your pay grade. When faced with a problem, ask yourself: How would my boss’s boss view this? Would they bother with it, or dismiss it as trivial?

If the boss’s boss would not care, you have three options:

1. Make them care — frame the problem as more impactful.
2. Sell the problem — pivot to a more worthy one.
3. Pivot — drop the problem entirely.

Why this matters: People often solve problems just to justify their salary, even when the problem is not worth solving. Instead, be a man/woman of contemplation first, then a person of action.

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Quick Fix vs. Permanent Fix (Perma Fix)

Using the doctor‑patient analogy:

• Symptom – e.g., headache, fever (what the patient reports).
• Problem – e.g., viral infection (the diagnosis).
• Root cause – e.g., weakened immunity, exposure (underlying factor).

A quick fix (band‑aid, jugaad) jumps straight from symptom to solution. It is temporary and often necessary for immediate relief. A permanent fix (perma fix) goes symptom → problem → root cause → solution. It addresses the underlying cause to prevent recurrence.

Design thinking is a perma fix — it solves complex, high‑impact, high‑frequency problems by deeply understanding the user and the root cause.

When to use design thinking:

• The problem has high frequency (repeats) AND high impact (cancerous, complex).
• If low frequency or low impact → not worth design thinking.

Key takeaways

• Only apply design thinking to audacious, complex problems (cancer), not to bruises (80% of daily problems).
• Bruises heal with time; cancers worsen if ignored – learn to distinguish using distance (physical, temporal, emotional).
• Think two levels above your pay grade to avoid wasting energy on trivial problems.
• Design thinking is a permanent fix – it goes from symptom to root cause, not a quick fix.
• No problem has intrinsic value; it is only as big as you make it.

Design Brief

A design brief is a concise statement of intent that sets the direction for the design‑thinking process. It is the starting point for the Inspire stage: it must inspire both yourself and your team to tackle a specific problem. A well‑crafted design brief acts as a sandbox – clear boundaries on the outside, creative freedom on the inside.

Definition A design brief is a brief statement of intent as to why we are interested in going about this particular problem.

Three Conditions of a Good Design Brief

Worked example: Employee retention briefs

B is the best brief – it stretches, constrains, and leaves room for multiple approaches.

The Sandbox Metaphor

A design brief is like a children’s sandbox:

• The walls are the constraints (clear, non‑negotiable boundaries).
• Inside the sand is malleable – you can shape, build, and play freely.
• Outside the box there is no playfulness.

Thus the brief must define the conditions of operation (the box), but within those conditions everything is open to exploration.

Powerful Examples from Practice

John F. Kennedy’s Moon Speech (1962)

“We need to put a man on the moon and bring him back safely by the end of this decade.”

• Inspirational: Putting a man on the moon was a staggering stretch (NASA had no idea how in 1962).
• Constrained: “Bring him back safely” + “by the end of this decade.”
• Vague: No mention of how (private vs. government, collaboration, etc.). This galvanised millions worldwide.

Aravind Eye Hospital (Madurai)

Vision statement: “Eradicate needless blindness” (three words).

• Inspirational: Eradicate – not just reduce.
• Constrained: Needless – excludes blindness that is natural or incurable; focuses on preventable/curable cases.
• Vague: Does not specify methods, technology, or funding.

Tata Indica (India’s first indigenous car)

Ratan Tata’s brief:

“Design an Indian car from scratch with the internal volume of an Ambassador, the size of a Maruti Zen, the ease of entering/exiting (especially rear seat), priced close to a Maruti 800, adding the economy of diesel, all in a contemporary design.”

• Stretch: “Design from scratch” – never done before in India.
• Constraints: Exact size, price, fuel type, interior space, design style.
• Vague: How to achieve all of that simultaneously was left to the engineers.

Other notable metaphors-as-briefs

• Google: “Make the web as accessible as flipping through a magazine” – intuitive, fast, one‑thumb navigation.
• Mahindra XUV500: “Cheetah” – grille = jaws, door handles = paws, monocoque stance = cheetah stance.
• Royal Enfield Himalayan: A complete ground‑up redesign for off‑roading.

Why a Well‑Defined Brief Is Critical

• A poorly defined problem cannot be solved because team members have different assumptions.
• One of the biggest reasons design‑thinking programs fail is rushing through the definition stage.
• The brief should outlive the project – it becomes the north star for all decisions.
• The leader’s job is to spend substantial time crafting a clever, well‑drafted brief. Aim for 10 000‑ft altitude – not 30 000 (too vague) nor 20 ft (too detailed).

Exam tip: When evaluating a design brief, always check whether it is inspirational, constrained, and vague. A brief that is too specific (like “by looking at compensation”) kills creative thinking.

Key takeaways

• A good design brief has three attributes: stretch, constraint, vagueness.
• Constraints drive creativity; no constraints → linear thinking.
• Vagueness enables multiple solutions; over‑specification kills possibility.
• The sandbox metaphor: rigid boundaries, limitless play inside.
• Examples: Kennedy moon mission, Aravind Hospital, Tata Indica, Google, Mahindra XUV500, Royal Enfield Himalayan.
• Invest time in defining the problem – poor definition is the #1 cause of design‑thinking failure.

Empathy: Listening and Understanding

Empathy is often defined as "stepping into someone’s shoes." In design thinking, it goes deeper: the ability to listen, feel, and act on another’s perspective. A common trap is to confuse empathy with merely anticipating others’ problems.

Why Listening Beats Giving Answers: The Doctor Example

Both doctors cured the patient, but Doctor B earns trust—because he listened. As Oprah Winfrey concluded after 30,000 interviews: “Everybody wants to be understood.” People do not need answers; they need to be heard.

Empathy vs. Expertise

Expertise often comes at the cost of empathy, and empathy at the cost of expertise. An expert who already knows the answer before you finish asking makes you feel contained, not connected.

True expertise includes the skill of listening. Empathy is not a weakness—it is a competitive advantage. In an age of automation, empathy and creativity are the two abilities machines cannot replace.

Empathy Is Universal Yet Unpractised

Humans are empathetic as a species, but individuals may not be—either because they undervalue it or because they are too absorbed in their own emotional state (especially self-pity, the “why me?” trap).

Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the acknowledgement of fear. → Acknowledge your own emotions before you can empathise with others.

Key Takeaways

• Empathy is about listening and understanding, not just giving solutions.
• Doctor B’s approach (listening + explaining) outperforms Doctor A’s (rushing + prescribing).
• Empathy and expertise need to be balanced; listening is itself an expert skill.
• Self-pity (“why me?”) blocks empathy; acknowledge emotions to move forward.
• After automation, empathy + creativity will distinguish humans from machines.

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Daniel Goleman’s Four Levels of Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence (EQ) provides a structured path to empathy. The four levels build on each other:

1. Self-Awareness

Recognising your own emotional state—anger, sadness, anxiety, elation—without judgment. The ability to step back and observe “I am angry” rather than being consumed by the anger.

2. Self-Management

Once aware, managing that emotion. Techniques: deep breathing, meditation, taking a break, accepting a loss (e.g., missing a flight → stop amplifying stress → find next options).

3. Empathy

Understanding others’ emotional states. Only after handling your own emotions do you have the mental bandwidth to truly hear someone else.

4. Social Skills

Tailoring your behaviour to others’ emotional states. Example: a teacher explaining the same concept to a 5th grader, a college student, and a senior executive must adapt each time.

IQ gets you into the game; EQ helps you win.

Key Takeaways

• EQ hierarchy: self-awareness → self-management → empathy → social skills.
• Self-awareness is the base—you cannot manage or empathise without it.
• Self-management prevents emotional hijacking (e.g., traffic rage → acceptance).
• Social skills are the applied layer: adapting communication to the audience.
• EQ often matters more than IQ for long-term success in relationships and leadership.

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Three Levels of Empathy

Daniel Goleman distinguishes three progressive levels of empathy, each deeper than the last:

Why the Highest Level Matters

Without empathic concern, empathy can become fake—endless “I understand” but no action. The other person eventually distrusts you. As a leader, parent, or service provider, you have power to effect change; mere cognitive or emotional empathy is insufficient.

Example – Amazon Prime cancellation: A customer cancelled a recently renewed subscription. Amazon refunded the pro-rated amount without obstruction. They listened, understood (cognitive), felt the user’s inconvenience (emotional), and took immediate action (empathic concern). This is rare and builds deep trust.

Key Takeaways

• Cognitive empathy = intellectual understanding; emotional empathy = feeling with the person.
• Empathic concern is the highest form: understanding + feeling + doing something to fix it.
• Without action, empathy feels hollow and damages trust.
• Leaders must practice empathic concern because their position gives them power to improve situations.
• Empathic concern prevents empathy fatigue—acting is better than just feeling overwhelmed.

Listening Positions

Listening is the most underrated yet critical skill for empathy. Stephen Covey observed that most people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand — always waiting to put their own words in. Listening positions, introduced by Julian Treasure, are conscious choices about how we listen. Knowing them lets you adapt your style to the situation.

Bill Clinton exemplifies reverse charisma: when you listen intently, the other person feels charismatic and important. The spotlight stays on them.

Active vs. Passive Listening

• Active listening: You drive the conversation — probing, asking questions, steering.
• Passive listening: You listen intently without interrupting; you let the flow happen.

Reductive vs. Expansive Listening

• Reductive listening: You try to conclude and summarise — “So therefore…”. Premature reduction causes tunnel vision.
• Expansive listening: You ask “What else?”, “Can you tell me more?” — you expand possibilities.

Critical vs. Empathetic Listening

• Critical listening: Check for logical consistency, contradictions, coherence.
• Empathetic listening: Accept what is said without judging coherence; the goal is to let the other person vent.

Exam tip: A common mistake is using critical listening when empathy is needed (e.g., with family). Always match the position to the relationship and goal.

Key takeaways

• Listening is not passive; you can consciously choose active/passive, reductive/expansive, critical/empathetic.
• Passive listening = not interrupting; active = driving the conversation.
• Reductive closes down; expansive opens up. Both are needed, but timing matters.
• Critical is for logic; empathetic is for emotional connection.
• Great listeners (like Bill Clinton) use reverse charisma — they make others feel valued.

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The RASA Technique

RASA is a four-step listening method from Julian Treasure that builds trust and uncovers real needs.

Why RASA Matters

• Receive: Insecurity kills receiving. If you always try to one-up (“Even I had that…”), you close the other person down.
• Appreciate: The person feels acknowledged and safe to go deeper. Customers initially talk about symptoms; appreciation builds trust to reveal real problems.
• Summarise: Builds rapport, plugs information gaps, and corrects misunderstandings.
• Ask: A question can be an act of empathy. Compare “Why are you late?” (defensive) vs. “What happened?” (we’re on the same side).

Exam tip: The most common market‑research failure is that customers role‑play — they tell you what you want to hear. RASA helps you get past the symptoms to the real need.

Key takeaways

• RASA = Receive, Appreciate, Summarise, Ask — in that order.
• Appreciation is about the act, not the content; it opens vulnerability.
• Summarising is not just repetition — it confirms and corrects.
• The right question (“What happened?” vs. “Why?”) turns defensiveness into dialogue.
• RASA, combined with awareness of listening positions, makes you a listener others seek out.

2.3 Three Practical Tips for Cultivating Empathy

Empathy in design thinking is not a passive feeling — it is an active practice. Three concrete habits separate a genuinely empathic designer from someone who merely assumes they understand users. These tips apply directly to observing real environments (e.g., the IIMB staff canteen project) and to engaging with people without bias.

2.3.1 Listen with Intent

Intuition: Most people listen only to reply. Empathic listening listens to understand — not to judge, not to interrupt, and not to prepare a counter-argument. Listening with intent means giving full attention to what is said and why it matters to the speaker.

• Do not multitask while listening.
• Let the speaker finish before formulating your response.
• Seek the meaning behind the words — emotions, needs, unspoken concerns.

Exam tip: This is the first and most fundamental tip. It is often tested as "active listening" in the context of user interviews.

2.3.2 Observe with Purpose

Intuition: Casual observation misses the subtle inefficiencies, frictions, and delights that a trained eye catches. Observing with purpose means watching with a clear goal: identify what could be improved (and also what works well). As a newcomer to a space (like watching a video of the canteen), you will notice things regular users take for granted.

• Ask while observing: What is wrong? What is fascinating? What can be improved? What good practice should we embrace?
• The first viewing of raw footage is especially powerful — patterns jump out before you become desensitised.

2.3.3 Defer Your Judgment

Intuition: Judging people (or their behaviour) consumes mental energy and distorts your perception. Deferring judgment does not mean ignoring behaviour — it means separating a person’s action in a specific moment from their identity as a whole. Behaviour is highly contingent on the environment, not a permanent label.

Why it matters for empathy:

• A user who seems rude or uninterested may be under stress (e.g., a medical emergency).
• If you judge the person, you close the door to understanding their true needs.
• If you evaluate only the behaviour in context, you remain open and learn more.

Key distinction:

• Judging a person ≠ evaluating performance in a specific task.
• In a course: evaluate an assignment, not the student's character. In design: evaluate an observed behaviour, not the person's worth.

Exam tip: The professor’s story about the executive who refused to close his laptop illustrates the danger of snap judgment. The student had a legitimate medical urgency. If judged, the relationship would have been lost. The correct response: separate the behaviour from the person.

Example: The transformation of Angulimala Angulimala, a feared robber who wore a garland of fingers, met Gautama Buddha without fear. Buddha did not judge him; he simply understood. That moment transformed Angulimala into a saint. The lesson: anyone can change at any moment — judgment is a fruitless exercise.

Carrying the weight of judgment: Judging others (e.g., comparing courses or faculty) wastes mental capacity. You can always give feedback later; during the learning process, stay open and non-judgmental. This makes you lighter, clearer, and a far better thinker.

Key takeaways

• The three practical tips: listen with intent, observe with purpose, defer judgment.
• Deferring judgment means evaluating behaviour in context, not labelling the person.
• Judgment is a mental burden that blocks understanding; empathy requires a clear, open mind.
• Use these tips during the canteen observation project to uncover deep user needs.

Empathy Can Be Engineered

Empathy is not an art you either have or lack — it is a science that can be created, designed, measured, and manipulated. You can develop it at any age. A powerful example: parents become empathetic almost overnight when they hold their newborn, forced to communicate without shared language. This shows everyone has a reserve of empathy that can be called upon. The goal is to use it more maturely, assertively, and regularly.

Exam tip: The “engineerability” of empathy is a foundational claim — expect a question contrasting “empathy as art” vs. “empathy as science”.

Tool 1: Job to Be Done (JTBD)

Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School introduced the Job to Be Done framework. The core insight: customers do not buy products; they hire products to get a job done. A car is not a product — it is a service that gets the job of transportation from A to B in comfort. A drilling machine is not a product — it is hired to make a hole.

Crucially, you can define the same job narrowly or broadly:

• Narrow: “make a ¼‑inch hole”
• Broad: “beautify a home”

The broader definition opens up more product and service possibilities. When empathising, always step back to identify the bigger job the customer is trying to accomplish.

Functional vs. Emotional Job

Every job has two components:

Titan succeeded not just by making accurate watches, but by crafting emotional value — a watch as an adornment on your wrist.

Worked Example: Bisleri

Bisleri observed the plastic waste problem from single‑use bottles in hotels. By reframing its job from “supply water” to “quench thirst without plastic waste”, it introduced refillable glass bottles and on‑site filling machines — a new service line.

Exam tip: JTBD questions often ask you to differentiate between need, want, and desire. The broader framing unlocks innovation.

Key takeaways – JTBD

• Customers hire products to get a job done.
• Job can be defined narrowly or broadly; broader definitions open more opportunities.
• Every job has a functional and an emotional component — both must be understood.
• Move from need → want → desire to uncover the real job.

Identifying the Customer: A Concert of Stakeholders

In practice, there is never one customer. Multiple stakeholders form a concert of customers, each with different jobs to be done.

Example: Baby food (Cerelac)

When applying JTBD, analyse the needs of all stakeholders, not just the end‑user. This becomes the basis for a stakeholder map.

Key takeaways – Multiple customers

• The “customer” is never a single person — it is a set of stakeholders.
• Each stakeholder has a unique functional and emotional job.
• Empathy requires understanding the whole constellation.

Tool 2: Problem Exploration Map

Every problem is actually a symptom of deeper causes. A problem exploration map (a type of mind map) helps you move from the symptom to root causes — the critical lever for permanent (perma‑fix) rather than temporary (quick‑fix) solutions.

Process:

Example: Traffic jam

• Treating it as a problem → widen roads, restrict traffic (quick fix).
• Treating it as a symptom → investigate root causes (e.g., poor public transport, urban density, work hours) and solve permanently.

Worked Example: Decline in book reading

By drilling down to a root cause such as “do not know which book to read”, you can generate a business idea: a service recommending top‑10 books by age and profession. The idea emerged only after breaking the symptom into its constituent causes.

Exam tip: In a design thinking project, your problem exploration map is a key deliverable. Every cause must be genuinely a cause, not a restated symptom.

Key takeaways – Problem Exploration Map

• Start by reframing the problem as a symptom.
• Decompose the symptom into multiple causes (problems).
• For each cause, drill down to root causes — the level where a solution can be permanently effective.
• Avoid jumping to solutions before reaching root causes.

Stakeholder Map

A stakeholder is any person or group who is concerned with the problem or with the solution. Many stakeholders are invisible – they include not only direct users but also support teams, managers, regulators, and even people who benefit from the problem remaining unsolved. The stakeholder map reveals the full set of actors and surfaces conflicting demands.

How to build a stakeholder map

1. Place the core symptom at the centre of a mind map.
2. Identify 7–9 stakeholders – too few risks bundling distinct perspectives; too many creates confusion.
3. For each stakeholder, document:
   • Positive – benefits they get from the current situation (or from the proposed change).
   • Negative – losses, risks, or discomfort they anticipate.

Surprise: Some stakeholders enjoy the problem. Their positive may be another stakeholder’s negative.

Example: Shop floor automation

Problem statement: “How do we transition to a robotic shop floor?”

Conflict: Supervisor’s gain in productivity is the labour union’s loss (fewer workers needed).

Why it matters

A stakeholder map lets you anticipate friction before rolling out an idea. By understanding motivations and detractors, you can adapt the idea to create a win‑win. The idea is never static – it evolves as you address each stakeholder’s concerns.

Exam tip: An idea wins only when others see value in it. Stakeholder maps force you to ask “what’s in it for them?” – without that, even the best‑laid plans fail.

Key takeaways

• A stakeholder is anyone affected by the problem or solution; many are hidden.
• Use a mind map with 7–9 stakeholders; for each list positive and negative.
• Conflicting demands (one’s gain is another’s loss) are common and must be managed.
• The map helps anticipate implementation problems and evolve the idea iteratively.

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Customer Journey Map

A customer journey map examines a problem through time. It is useful when the experience unfolds over multiple stages (e.g., travel, purchasing, onboarding). Its goal: identify pain points and opportunities at each step, then redesign or eliminate stages.

How to build a journey map

1. List the stages in chronological order – from before to after the core experience.
2. At each stage, record current or potential issues (frictions, delays, confusion).
3. Optionally, propose solutions or question whether the stage is needed at all.

Example: Airport journey (Bangalore → destination)

Insight: The coconut problem wastes CISF time and upsets passengers (religious value). A 3D scanner that scans from the side would eliminate the need to remove laptops and cables – saving time and inconvenience for both staff and travellers.

When to use which tool

Key takeaways

• Journey maps break a time‑based experience into stages and identify pain points.
• Use when “time” is a key dimension of the problem.
• Challenge whether each stage is necessary – sometimes the best solution is to remove a step.

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Empathy Map

An empathy map helps you understand a single user’s emotional state while grappling with a problem. It captures inputs (what they see/hear), internal processing (think/feel), and outputs (do/say), then distils pains and gains.

Structure of an empathy map

Example: First‑time college student (living in hostel)

• Seeing: Dorms, canteen, new people, unfamiliar rules.
• Hearing: Complaints, gossip, commands, parents on phone.
• Thinking: “Will I fit in? Is he trustworthy? Should I try new food?”
• Feeling: Lost, anxious, socially conscious, bored, depressed, or elated (new freedom).
• Doing: Making bed, meeting friends, exploring city, binging on social media.
• Saying: Complaining about feeling inadequate, asking for help.

Pains (distilled): Inadequate role models, improper guidance, risk of bad company, homesickness.

Gains (distilled): Developing self‑confidence, exploring capacities, meeting new people.

The pain‑gain equation

At every moment, people subconsciously compare pain and gain. As long as gain > pain, they stay; when pain dominates, they leave. Example: Fans queue 2 hours in scorching heat for an IPL match (gain of watching match outweighs pain). Same person won’t queue 1 minute at an ATM (pain of waiting > gain of cash).

Exam tip: Empathy maps reveal why a user tolerates (or rejects) a situation. To retain users, amplify gains and reduce pains – never assume your idea wins on its own.

Key takeaways

• Empathy map: input (see/hear) → processing (think/feel) → output (do/say) → pains & gains.
• Pains and gains are derived from observation, questionnaires, and triangulation.
• User behaviour is driven by a continuous pain‑gain calculation; keep gains > pains.

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Buyer Persona

A buyer persona (persona = “mask”) is a deep, microscope‑view profile of a target user. It goes beyond demographics to uncover objectives, fears, needs, and influence channels.

Components of a persona

Purpose

The persona helps you design and communicate a solution that addresses the real person behind the mask. It combines all previous empathy tools into a single actionable profile.

Key takeaways

• Persona = detailed, realistic portrait of a typical user (not a stereotype).
• Include demographics, objectives, fears, needs, and channels.
• Aligns product/service design with what the user actually values.

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Summary: Seven Techniques for Empathy and Problem Definition

Seven interconnected tools:

1. Jobs to Be Done (covered earlier)
2. Problem Exploration Map (covered earlier)
3. Stakeholder Map
4. Customer Journey Map
5. Empathy Map
6. Buyer Persona
7. (Implicitly, synthesising all to define the problem)

Together they provide a complete understanding of the user, the system, and the emotional landscape – setting the stage for sharply defining the right problem to solve.

Key takeaways

• No single tool is enough; combine them based on the nature of the problem (root causes, multiple stakeholders, time dimension, emotional state).
• Empathy is a continuous, iterative process – the idea evolves as you learn.
• The ultimate goal: define a problem that is real, human‑centred, and actionable.

Define

Define is the stage where you synthesize the vast empathy-gathered data into a focused, actionable problem to solve. After understanding the user’s world, you may feel “there are too many problems.” Define filters out the noise and picks the one problem worth solving — a problem that is both impactful and within your realistic reach.

Formally, this stage enforces bounded empathy — empathy constrained by two practical guardrails.

Bounded Empathy

Empathy without boundaries leads to unrealistic promises. Two boundary conditions contain the problem space:

Together, these define what you can and should solve — the ambition is bounded, not limitless.

Exam tip: “Bounded empathy” is the key term. Any exam question about practical problem selection will hinge on these two constraints. Do not confuse it with boundless empathy.

Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)

Now, even within the bounded set, not all problems are equal. The Pareto Law states:

80% of the impact comes from only 20% of the problems.

Therefore, solving the right 20% delivers 80% of the customer goodness. Prioritise those high-impact problems and ignore the rest.

How to apply: list all customer/stakeholder demands → identify the subset (≈20%) that causes the biggest pain or unlocks the biggest benefit → focus all effort there.

MECE Framework

To precisely identify that 20%, use the MECE principle (coined by Barbara Minto at McKinsey). MECE stands for:

• Mutually Exclusive – Each problem is defined so that it does not overlap with another. There is no double-counting.
• Collectively Exhaustive – The set of chosen problems covers the entire problem space. Solving them all fully addresses the original situation.

Example: Suppose you have three problems. You must define them so that Problem 1, Problem 2, and Problem 3 are distinct (mutually exclusive), yet together they account for every pain point (collectively exhaustive). This tight definition ensures you don’t waste effort on gaps or overlaps.

Worked Example (Hypothetical)

Apply Pareto: The top 20% = “Long queue at lunch peak” (impact 9) and “Unhealthy menu” (impact 7) → two problems out of four = 50% (close to 20% considering weight). The others are dropped because they don’t meet the impact threshold.

Apply MECE: Ensure “Long queue” and “Unhealthy menu” are mutually exclusive – they are separate root causes. Combined, they cover the major pain points (collectively exhaustive for the high-impact set).

Key Takeaways

• Bounded empathy = empathy limited by technical feasibility and business viability. You cannot solve everything.
• Pareto 80/20 rule directs attention to the few problems that cause the most impact.
• MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) ensures problem definitions are crisp and complete.
• Together, these tools transform overwhelming empathy data into a precise, solvable problem statement.
• The Define stage is the gateway to ideation – you enter it only after you know which problem to solve and why it matters.

Applying Design Thinking: Staff Canteen Project

Apply the design thinking framework to a real-world context: the IIM Bangalore staff canteen. The goal is to observe, empathise, and define problems through three structured exercises: a problem exploration map, a stakeholder map, and a customer journey map.

Problem Exploration Map

A mind map that visually captures observed problems and their possible root causes. The exercise explicitly asks for 5–6 problems encountered in the video (either seen directly or discussed by interviewees), each linked to underlying causes.

• Purpose: Systematically explore the problem space before jumping to solutions.
• Format: Mind map (digital or pen-and-paper).
• Focus: Problems → Root causes. No prioritisation yet — that comes after.

Exam tip: The "problem exploration map" is the first step in the Empathise stage. Don't confuse it with a problem statement; it's a divergence tool to surface many issues.

Stakeholder Map

Identify the key stakeholders visible or interviewed in the canteen video, then document the challenges each faces. This module does not specify an exhaustive stakeholder list; build the map from direct observation.

• Purpose: Visualise relationships and pain points for each group.
• Format: Node-and-link diagram, with stakeholder names and their challenges.

Customer Journey Map

Create a journey map tracing a typical customer (e.g., a person coming to eat) or a cafeteria employee through the day's process.

• Customer journey: Arrive → Queue → Order → Pay → Sit → Eat → Leave → (possible follow-up).
• Employee journey: Start shift → Prep food → Serve customers → Clean → Restock → End shift.

Each journey should capture touchpoints, emotions, pain points, and opportunities.

• Purpose: Understand the end-to-end experience, not just isolated moments.

Identifying Critical Problems

After creating all three maps, synthesise findings to pick the most critical problems that must be solved first. This aligns with the Define stage of design thinking.

Key takeaways

• Three deliverables: problem exploration map (5–6 problems + root causes), stakeholder map (key stakeholders + challenges), journey map (customer or employee experience).
• All must be based on careful re-observation of the canteen video and the problems actually observed.
• The goal is to empathise with multiple perspectives and define the most critical issues before ideating solutions.
• Use mind map software or simple pen and paper; format matters less than thoroughness.
• The exercise bridges theory (design thinking process) and practice (real canteen context).